BBC Worldwide has commission The Great South African Bake Off as a new South African reality competition show for BBC Lifestyle (DStv 174) with South African bakers who can apply now for the first season which will be broadcast later in the year.
The Great South African Bake Off, produced by the Rapid Blue production company and which will be shot in Johannesburg, will make South Africa the 18th country to get its own version of the hugely popular Love Productions format.
The show has already enthralled British viewers on the BBC for five series in which amateur bakers compete against each other.
From Soggy Bottoms and Showstoppers, and from Even Bakes to Beautifully Moist and even the dreaded Under Baked, South Africans over 18 will now be able to enter at bbcsouthafrica.com until 24 May for the 10-episode TV bake-off to find the country's finest home bakers.
The 5th season of The Great British Bake Off will start on 21 April on BBC Lifestyle.
BBC Lifestyle's The Great South African Bake Off follows other similar cooking shows like M-Net's MasterChef South Africa and kykNET's (DStv 144) current Afrikaans baking show Koekedoor all finding great ratings success as viewers compete to show off their culinary prowess on television.
The Great South African Bake Off , BBC Worldwide's second local TV show in South Africa following the hugely popular three seasons of Come Dine with Me South Africa, will see amateur South African bakers who will have to whip up not just tiered layer cakes but presumably also South African delicatessen ranging from koeksisters, malva pudding and milk tart to perhaps a traditional Sotho wedding cake.
"The Great South African Bake Off promises to be event television at its best, serving up passion, skill and mouth-watering excitement," says Joel Churcher, the vice president and general manager for Africa at BBC Worldwide.
Julie Swanston, the vice president of commissioning at BBC Worldwide will be the executive producer of The Great South African Bake Off.
"It's exciting to see Bake Off spreading its wings and doing so well around the world," says Duncan Cooper, BBC Worldwide's executive producer for formats and local production. "I'm sure it will lend itself extremely well to South Africa's vibrant and exciting mix of culinary influences."
"South African bakers will be put through their paces," Kully Kaur-Bains, the head of programming for Africa at BBC Worldwide, told TV with Thinus in an interview about The Great South African Bake Off from London last week.
"We're not going to be lenient on people, we're trying to keep it as close to the UK format as possible, with some tweaks for the South African audience. So they will be put through their paces. That shouldn't put anyone off from entering because South Africa has fantastic bakers and great talent," said Kelly Kaur-Bains.
The Great South African Bake Off will have at least one South African judge.
Asked what those who want to enter, need to be able to do, says Kully Kaur-Bains: "Well obviously they need to bake! Ha ha. They need to be over 18 to apply, and they need to have a passion and creativity when it comes to baking styles; they need to have a bit of technical knowledge."
"You know, there's some great baking talents in South Africa. One of the reasons we commissioned this show is because people kept asking why don't we do The Great South African Bake Off. It's going to be exactly like the UK one - amateur bakers who've got the enthusiasm, creativity with baking - that's what we're looking for".
ALSO READ: Interview: BBC Worldwide TV executive Kully Kaur Bains (who's not a baker) opens the oven door on The Great South African Bake Off.
